Dr. Jed Kolko is the Chief Economist at Trulia where he leads the company’s housing research and provides insights on market trends and public policy. Focusing on where the market is today and where it is headed tomorrow, Jed aims to shed light on how the future of real estate will evolve – from where people want to live to the types of homes that they want to live in, all the way down to the neighborhood amenities that are most important to them and their families. Additionally, in his role at the fastest growing online real estate resource, he also advises the development of Trulia Estimates and works to create new derivatives of Trulia’s data to help more consumers make smarter decisions about where they want to live.

Jed was formerly an associate director of research and research fellow at the Public Policy Institute of California. In this role, he published policy studies and academic articles on economic development, land use and housing policy, advised policymakers and business groups, and testified at public hearings. Previously, he was vice president and research director of Forrester Research’s market-research practice focusing on consumer technology adoption and demand. He has also worked at the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (now known as the Federal Housing Finance Agency), the World Bank, and the Progressive Policy Institute. Jed earned his Ph.D in Economics and his A.B. in Social Studies from Harvard University.

Entries by Jed Kolko

Although home prices are rising faster in urban neighborhoods, population is growing faster in suburban neighborhoods. Consumer preferences and the aging of the population are tailwinds for suburban growth; so are falling oil prices if they stay low long-term.

How fast have cities and suburbs grown recently? During last decade's...

All five measures of the Housing Barometer improved over the past year. The indicator that the recovery now most depends on--young-adult employment--made the largest leap, but is still not quite halfway back to normal.

Relative to fundamentals, home prices nationally looked 2% undervalued in the fourth quarter of 2014. Home prices in 70 of the 100 largest metros are less than 10% over- or undervalued. That's the highest number of markets close to local long-term fundamentals since the recovery began, and a sign that...

The recent plunge in oil prices could cause home prices to slip in the oil-producing markets of Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and elsewhere. But it typically takes two years for oil prices to fully affect home prices in those markets. At the same time, lower oil prices could boost home values...

Eighty-one percent of Americans live in counties where Christmas probably won't be white. Among large metros, snowfall or snow cover on Christmas is most likely in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Buffalo, and Syracuse.

Dreaming of a white Christmas? Keep dreaming. For most Americans, chances aren't great for Christmastime snow....

Consumers think 2015 will be a better year than 2014, especially for selling a home. But the recovery will slow as the rebound effect fades before fundamentals become strong. Key markets to watch are in the Northeast, South, and West.

Despite high household incomes, San Francisco is the least affordable metro, with just 15% of homes within reach of the middle class. Affordability has deteriorated over the past year in Austin and Miami. The most affordable markets are near the Great Lakes.

Veterans tend to live in affordable smaller metros and rural areas, near military bases, and in places with fewer immigrants. Among the largest 100 metros, Colorado Springs and Virginia Beach have the highest concentration of veterans, while Miami, New York, and Los Angeles have the lowest.

Three out of five Housing Barometer measures are getting close to normal. But the two measures that hitch housing to the broader economy are still struggling, so the job market and housing market aren't helping each other as they should.

The vacancy rate for single-family homes increased in 2013 and remains well above bubble and pre-bubble levels.

What? Too much new single-family construction? It sounds hard to believe, with only 618,000 single-family housing starts in 2013, heading toward 622,000 in 2014 - far below the pre-bubble average of...

Three times as many people moved from Los Angeles to Houston, and from New York to West Palm Beach, as the other way around. Most movers are toward counties with lower density, lower unemployment, and cheaper housing.

Labor Day marks the end of summer - and the end of the traditional house-hunting season. Based on properties viewed on the Trulia website for the full years of 2011-2013, home search activity jumps in March, stays high through summer, and then falls below the annual average in September...